Afghans are also identified by their qawm, a term that can refer to affinity with almost any kind of social group. It essentially divides “us” from “them” and helps to distinguish members of one large ethnic or tribal group, or one clan or village, from another. Particular responsibilities and advantages go with membership, and the...

...though the prevailing direction is actually from the north-northwest. In contrast to the shamāl is the less frequent qaws from the southeast. The wind regimes of Najd and the Rubʿ al-Khali are complex, particularly during spring. The winds may come from any point of the compass and vary in intensity......

in India and Pakistan, an energetic musical performance of Sufi Muslim poetry that aims to lead listeners to a state of religious ecstasy—to a spiritual union with Allah (God). The music was popularized outside of South Asia in the late 20th century, owing largely to its promoti...

...ceased to exist, especially since the passing of the Ottoman Empire, although in the latter part of the 20th century many embassies in the Arab world still employed an interpreter-courier known as a kavass (Turkish kavas; Arabic qawwās), used largely for ceremonial purposes....

Khan debuted as a lead actor in Qayamat se qayamat tak (1988), directed by Mansoor Khan. The film, a tragic love story backed by memorable music, was a hit and established Khan’s image as the boy next door. After a series of mediocre movies, he again found box-office success with Dil (1990) and Dil hai ke manta nahin...

town, northeastern Iran. Qāyen is a place of great antiquity and complex history. The present town, which lies in a broad valley, was founded in the 15th century to replace an older town. Later, the Uzbeks (a Turkic people) took possession of Qāyen and held it until Shāh ʿAbbās I (1588–1629) expelled them. In the 18th ...

...performances were held periodically, attracting the most distinguished poet-musicians. Their music, more sophisticated than that practiced in the nomadic encampments, was related to that of the qaynāt (“singing girls”), who performed at court, in noble households, and in scattered taverns. Cultural contact with Byzantium was strong in the kingdom of Ghassān,.....

town located in north-central Tunisia. The town, one of the holy cities of Islam, lies on the Basse Steppe (Low Steppes), a semiarid alluvial plain southeast of the Central Tell. Tradition holds that the town was founded in 670 by ʿUqbah ibn Nāfiʿ (Sīdī ʿUqbah), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, on the site of the B...

...was made from the highest roof in the vicinity of the mosque. The earliest minarets were former Greek watchtowers and the towers of Christian churches. The oldest minaret in North Africa is at al-Qayrawān, Tunisia. It was built between 724 and 727 and has a massive square form....

...of the Arab Islamic culture of the region. In this period the Mālikī school of Islamic law reasserted itself in Ifrīqiyyah and produced one of its most prominent scholars, Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī (died 996), whose Risālah is one of the most widely used and discussed expositions of Mālikī law.......

...the historical existence of several poets remains unverified) elaborate traditions of narrative developed, as, for example, with the pre-Islamic cavalier-poet ʿAntarah and the hapless love poet Majnūn Laylā (literally, “He Who Was Driven Crazy by Love for Laylā”). Such was the status of the poet as spokesman for the virtues of the tribal community that ...

After al-Ḥārith’s death the kingdom split up into four tribes—Asad, Taghlib, Qays, and Kinānah—each led by a Kindah prince. The tribes feuded constantly, and, after about the middle of the 6th century, the Kindah princes were forced by the local tribesmen to withdraw once more to southern Arabia....

...tribes or from the southern Arabian Yamanī (Banū Kalb or Qaḥṭānī) groups. Only a few tribes and towns have continued to observe this Qaysī-Yamanī division—a pre-Islamic split that was once an important, although broad, source of social identity as well as a point of social friction and conflict....

...by snow and to a lesser extent by glaciers, and high water lasts from March or April to September. The Syr Darya carries a considerable amount of silt, much of which it deposits in the vicinity of Qazaly, Kazakhstan. The river freezes in its lower reaches from December to March....

country of Central Asia. It is bounded on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, and on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Aral Sea; the Caspian Sea bounds Kazakhstan to the southwest. Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia and the ninth largest in the world. Between its most distant points Kazakhstan measures about 1,820 miles (2,930 kilometres...

hilly upland in central and eastern Kazakhstan, occupying about one-fifth of the republic. It is a peneplain, the mountainous Paleozoic foundation of which had already been worn down into an undulating plain by the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, beginning about 250 million years ago. Low hills are characteristic, and there are extensive depressions occupied by saline Lake Tengiz...

...That a Human Being?”), which attacks the degenerate gentry, and Tsereteli’s fine autobiographical Chemi tavgadasavali (1894–1909; “The Story of My Life”). Aleksandre Qazbegi was the first commercially successful prose writer in Georgia, his melodramatic fiction drawing on the legends and pagan ethos of the Caucasian highlanders....

...River, formed by the junction of the Qezel Owzan (Qisil Uzun) and Shāhrūd rivers, is the only river to cross the whole width of the chain: its gorge, giving access to the low pass of Qazvīn, offers the best passage through the mountain chain, although by no means an easy one, between the Gīlān region on the shores of the Caspian and the inland plateau to the.....

city, Markazī (Tehrān) ostān (province), north-central Iran, in a wide, fertile plain at the southern foot of the Elburz Mountains. Originally called Shad Shāhpūr, it was founded by the Sāsānian king Shāpūr I about ad 250. It flourished in early...

...Behzād, who is said to have taught him at Tabrīz. Muẓaffar ʿAlī was a favourite painter of Shah Ṭahmāsp I and became one of the leaders of the school of Qazvīn. He worked on the shah’s great Shāh-nāmeh with other royal miniaturists and on a series of 14 illustrations for the K...

...at the O.K. Corral (1957). His later works include Mila 18 (1961), a novel about the Jewish uprising against the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943; QB VII (1970), dealing with Nazi war crimes; Trinity (1976), a chronicle of a Northern Irish farm family from the 1840s to 1916; The Haj...

...query resembles natural language except that its syntax is limited and fixed. Instead of using an SQL statement, it is possible to represent queries in tabular form. The technique, referred to as query-by-example (or QBE), displays an empty tabular form and expects the searcher to enter the search specifications into appropriate columns. The program then constructs an SQL-type query from the......

layer of winds that encircle Earth’s lower stratosphere, at altitudes from 20 to 40 kilometres (about 12 to 25 miles), between latitudes 15° N and 15° S. They blow at velocities of 15 to 35 metres per second (about 35 to 80 miles per hour). They are alternately easterly and westerly, reversing about every 13 months. The quasi-biennial osci...

in physics, the theory that describes the action of the strong force. QCD was constructed in analogy to quantum electrodynamics (QED), the quantum field theory of the electromagnetic force. In QED the electromagnetic interactions of charged particles are described through the emission and subsequent absorption of massless ...

one of the largest Internet-access subscription service companies in the United States, providing a range of Web services for users. AOL was one of the first companies to establish a strong sense of community among its users through buddy lists and instant messaging services, which transmit billions of messages daily....

the dominant operating system for the personal computer (PC) throughout the 1980s. The acquisition and marketing of MS-DOS were pivotal in the Microsoft Corporation’s transition to software industry giant....

Its successor, the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2), was launched in 1967 and made its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York in 1969. The ship, 963 feet (294 metres) long and displacing 70,327 tons, was slightly smaller than its predecessor so that it could pass through the Panama Canal and operate as a cruise ship in addition to being a transatlantic liner. Its......

agricultural town, Qinā muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt. It is situated at the large bend of the Nile north of Luxor (al-Uqṣur) and lies along the east bank of the river. Known to the ancient Egyptians as Qebtu, the town was of early dynastic fo...

quantum field theory of the interactions of charged particles with the electromagnetic field. It describes mathematically not only all interactions of light with matter but also those of charged particles with one another. QED is a relativistic theory in that Albert Einstein’s theory of s...

one of a class of sacred prostitutes found throughout the ancient Middle East, especially in the worship of the fertility goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth). Prostitutes, who often played an important part in official temple worship, could be either male or female. In Egypt, a goddess named Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Syria), was worshiped in the 19th and 20th dynasties...

...in the worship of the fertility goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth). Prostitutes, who often played an important part in official temple worship, could be either male or female. In Egypt, a goddess named Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Syria), was worshiped in the 19th and 20th dynasties (1292–c. 1075 bc). Her representation is found on private stelae of middle-class workers. She is shown ...

...pulpit of the Reform temple Emanu-El in New York City. His many speaking engagements on behalf of Zionism, as well as his eloquent sermons, made him a revered figure among American Jews. He founded Qehilla (Community) to unite the disparate elements of New York Jewry; its Bureau of Jewish Education (1910–41) had a profound effect for decades. A growing dissatisfaction with Reform Jewry...

...It was strategically important during Roman times and in the 11th–12th-century wars between Normans and Byzantines. Later it was contested by Venetians, Serbs, and Turks. On November 28, 1912, Ismail Qemal proclaimed there the independence of Albania. Vlorë was occupied by the Italians in 1915–20 and again in 1939. During World War II Sazan was used as a German and Italian....

town and capital of Qinā muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt, on a canal 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Nile River at its great bend, opposite Dandarah. The town was called Caene (New Town) by the ancient Greeks to distinguish it from Coptos (now Qif...

muḥāfaẓah (governorate) in Upper Egypt, extending 3–4 miles (5–6 km) on each side of the Nile River between the Arabian and Libyan deserts. Occupying the great bend in the Nile valley, it contains the celebrated ruins of Thebes and the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. Qinā has a dense agricultural population (more than 3,000 persons per square mile...

Mayan Indians of central Guatemala, living in damp highlands and lowlands of irregular terrain. The Kekchí raise corn and beans as staple crops. These are planted together in plots that are burned off and then worked with digging sticks. Sexual taboos and fertility rituals are associated with the planting. Houses are built of thatch and poles, without windows, and hammocks are used for bed...

island in Davis Strait off western Greenland, northwest of Qeqertarsuup (Disko) Bay and southwest of Vaigat Strait. It is 80 miles (130 km) long and 20–75 miles (32–120 km) wide, with a maximum elevation of 6,296 feet (1,919 metres). There are coal and iron deposits, and until the late 1960s lignite was mined around Qullissat in the northeast. After production stop...

...feet (1,919 metres). There are coal and iron deposits, and until the late 1960s lignite was mined around Qullissat in the northeast. After production stopped, much of the population was relocated. Qeqertarsuaq (Danish: Godhavn), the largest settlement on the island, was established in 1773. Hunting and fishing are the main activities. A research station is located close to the town. The island....

largest island in the Persian Gulf, belonging to Iran. The Arabic name means “long island.” It lies parallel to the Iranian coast, from which it is separated by the Clarence Strait (Torʿeh-ye Khvorān). With an area of 460 square miles (1,200 square km), it has an irregular outline and a generally rocky coast except for sandy bays an...

largest island in the Persian Gulf, belonging to Iran. The Arabic name means “long island.” It lies parallel to the Iranian coast, from which it is separated by the Clarence Strait (Torʿeh-ye Khvorān). With an area of 460 square miles (1,200 square km), it has an irregular outline and a generally rocky coast except for sandy bays an...

island in the Persian Gulf, lying about 10 miles (16 km) off mainland Iran. It rises 120 feet (37 metres) above sea level to a plateau and is almost without vegetation except for a few date groves and stunted herbage. Qeys attained importance only in the late 1st millennium ad, when a prince obtained it, built a fleet, and gradually extended his ...

...led to a Bahmanī victory and a short-lived recognition of the chieftainship of Kherla as a Bahmanī protectorate. Aḥmad I then forged an alliance with another northern neighbour, Khandesh, which acted as a buffer between Bahmanī and the kingdoms of Malwa and Gujarat. On the pretext of giving aid to a Hindu chieftain who had revolted against Gujarat, he sent unsuccessf...

...had originally favoured the succession of Huayna Capac (Wayna Qhapaq), the youngest son of his principal wife and sister. Shortly before his death, he changed his mind and named as his successor Capac Huari (Qhapaq Wari), the son of another wife. Capac Huari, however, never became emperor. The claims of his mother and her relatives were suppressed by the supporters of Huayna Capac. This......

The Inca forces crossed the Quechua territory and attacked the provinces of Vilcas and Soras, southwest of the area controlled by the Chanca. In about 1445, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui sent his brother Capac Yupanqui (Qhapaq Yupanki) to explore the south coast, marking the first time the Inca reached the ocean. Returning to Cuzco, Capac Yupanqui passed through Chanca territory and captured a few of......

...small domains throughout the Andes. Under Mayta Capac the Inca began to expand, attacking and looting the villages of neighbouring peoples and probably assessing some sort of tribute. Under Capac Yupanqui, the next emperor, the Inca first extended their influence beyond the Cuzco valley, and under Viracocha Inca, the eighth, they began a program of permanent conquest by establishing......

the military organization used by the Manchu tribes of Manchuria (now Northeast China) to conquer and control China in the 17th century. The Banner system was developed by the Manchu leader Nurhachi (1559–1626), who in 1601 organized his warriors into four companies of 300 men each. The companies were distinguished by banners of different colours...

in Chinese philosophy, the ethereal psychophysical energies of which everything is composed. Early Daoist philosophers and alchemists regarded qi as a vital force inhering in the breath and bodily fluids and developed techniques to alter and control the movement of qi within the body; their aim was to achieve physical longevity and spiritual power....

...Wooster and Fry playing the resourceful valet, Reginald Jeeves, who always managed to extricate Wooster from unusual predicaments. In 2003 Fry hosted the television game show QI (“Quite Interesting”), which for some 10 years featured Fry delivering questions to a group of guest comedians who gained points for the cleverness—as opposed to the......

TCM is a by-product of the Eastern spiritual practice of qigong (pronounced “chee gung”), or “energy work,” which serves to strengthen the mind-body-spirit connection and to help the body operate as one harmonious system. Although the underpinnings of TCM are sometimes considered to be a system of philosophy, TCM practitioners understand that this comprehensive.....

Bian Qiao’s handling of the Marquis Qi Huan of the ancient state of Qi serves as a cautionary tale. While dining with the Marquis, Bian Qiao told him that he had a latent disease that should be treated immediately. The Marquis replied that he certainly was not ill. Five days later Bian Qiao saw the Marquis again and informed him that the disease had entered the blood. The Marquis responded ...

...began to increase in size, expanding at least sixfold by incorporating many previous “barbarian” areas into its realm. Moreover, under the rule of its semi-legendary prince Duke Huan (Qi Huangong) and his famous adviser Guan Zhong, a uniform tax system was instituted, a central army was created, and state monopolies of salt and iron production were formed. At the same time, a......

...of the Wanli emperor (1572–1620), the government was highly stable. The court was dominated by the outstanding grand secretary of Ming history, Zhang Juzheng, and capable generals such as Qi Jiguang restored and maintained effective military defenses....

...victories under the Miao leaders Yan Dawu and Bao Dadu. When the Miao were eventually defeated in 1872, however, countless numbers of them were massacred. The most recent revolt, known as the Qian Dong (Eastern Guizhou) Incident, occurred between 1942 and 1943 as a result of exploitation and suppression by the warlord Wu Tingzhang. Bitter struggles between the Miao and Wu’s armies went o...

...mountain belt, with a southwest-northeast axis, which continues in the Changbai Mountains of the Northeast (Manchuria)–North Korean border area. On the peninsula, the range is known as the Qian Mountains. The backbone of the peninsula consists of a number of parallel mountain ranges formed from ancient granites and shales. These mountains have been weathered into sharp peaks and ridges.....

At Shilong the river receives the Liu River, its major left- (north-) bank tributary, and is then called the Qian River. This section of the river is the shortest, no more than 75 miles (120 km) long, and the river drops about 50 feet (15 metres) in this distance. The channel grows dramatically, occasionally achieving depths of 280 feet (85 metres). For almost half its length, the Qian flows......

Chinese critic and historian of modern Chinese literature. A member of the Communist Party and of the standing committee of the League of Left-Wing Writers, he began c. 1930 to gather and study materials on the literature of modern times and of the Ming and Qing dynasties. His published works, including Women Writers in Modern China (1933) and Two ...

...Zhao Mengfu gave new impetus to the 4th-century style of Wang Xizhi, which then became a standard for Chinese writing and book printing for centuries. In painting, Zhao and his contemporary Qian Xuan helped to complete the development of a distinctively amateur style that ushered in a new phase in the history of Chinese painting. Their work did not continue that of the previous......

...dynasty (618–907 ce). Eighth-century remains have been found in desert oases around Turfan in the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China, and late Tang fragments have been found in the Mogao Caves near the town of Dunhuang in Gansu province. It is thought that these weavings are probably not representative of the more fully developed kesi of the Tang period becau...

Sichuan province has one of the most diversified ranges of ethnic groups in all of China, including Han (Chinese), Yi (Lolo), Tibetans, Miao (Hmong), Tujia, Hui (Chinese Muslims), and Qiang peoples. Most of the Han—who constitute the major part of the population—live in the basin region of the east. The Yi reside in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in the southwest, while the.....

...central part is a monolithic range. The width of the system is about 150 miles (240 km); the length is increased from 300 miles (500 km) to 500 miles (800 km) if its easternmost extension—the Chang Chenmo (Chinese: Qiangchenmo) and Pangong ranges of the Plateau of Tibet—is included. The system occupies about 80,000 square miles (207,000 square km). The average elevation of mountai...

The important Qiangic languages of Sichuan and Yunnan were hardly known to Western scholars at the time the Conspectus was written (c. 1942–43) or published (1972). Ersu/Tosu is perhaps an indirect descendant of the extinct Xixia (also known as Tangut) language, once spoken in a powerful empire located in the far northwestern part of the Tibet Autonomous......

enormous alpine basin in the northern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwestern China. With an average elevation exceeding 16,500 feet (5,000 metres) above sea level, it lies between the Kunlun Mountains to the north, the Tanggula Mountains to the east, and the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains to...

...consisted of a guard unit of 5,600 men known as a wei. Each wei was divided into five qianhu suo of 1,120 men each, which was subdivided into 10 baihu suo of 112 men each. The head of each wei......

reign name (nianhao) of the fourth emperor of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty (1644–1911/12), whose six-decade reign (1735–96) was one of the longest in Chinese history. He conducted a series of military campaigns that eliminated the Turk and Mongol threats to northeastern China (1755–60), enlarged his empire by creating the...

...last hall, the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian), after which comes the Inner Court (Neiting). The Inner Court was used as the emperor’s personal apartment. It contains three large halls, the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), the Hall of Union (Jiaotaidian), and the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity (Kunninggong)....

river flowing through Zhejiang province, southeastern China. The lower course and estuary, which discharge at Hangzhou into Hangzhou Bay, are called the Qiantang River. Above Hangzhou, as far as Tonglu, it is called the Fuchun River, and the section above Tonglu is known as the Tong River. Near Jiande the main river is for...

...of former ocean floors) and immature basaltic island-arc volcanic rocks to more silicic (silicon-rich) rocks such as andesites. In the North China paraplatform this early episode corresponds to the Qianxi Stage (3.5 to 3 billion years ago), in which mafic-ultramafic rocks with silicic sediments developed concurrently with granitic gneisses that were metamorphosed to a high degree....

Israeli collective settlement, usually agricultural and often also industrial, in which all wealth is held in common. Profits are reinvested in the settlement after members have been provided with food, clothing, and shelter and with social and medical services. Adults have private quarters, but children are generally housed and cared for as a group. Cooking a...

the direction of the sacred shrine of the Kaʿbah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, toward which Muslims turn five times each day when performing the salat (daily ritual prayer). Soon after Muhammad’s emigration (Hijrah, or Hegira) to Medina in 622, he indicated Jerusalem as the ...

the direction of the sacred shrine of the Kaʿbah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, toward which Muslims turn five times each day when performing the salat (daily ritual prayer). Soon after Muhammad’s emigration (Hijrah, or Hegira) to Medina in 622, he indicated Jerusalem as the ...

geographic and cultural division of Egypt, generally consisting of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel N. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake Nasser (formed by the Aswan High Dam). This division also includes what some scholars term Middle Egypt (from Lisht to Panopolis)....

Jewish benediction and prayer recited over a cup of wine immediately before the meal on the eve of the sabbath or of a festival; the ceremony acknowledges the sanctity of the day that has just begun. Chanting, or recitation, usually performed by the head of the household, may involve several or all members of the family, depending on the custom; each then sips wine from the cup, which was held in ...

...Many Conservative and Reform congregations have instituted a similar ceremony, called the bat mitzvah, to celebrate the coming-of-age of girls. Marriage (ḥatuna, also qiddushin, “sanctifications”) involves a double ceremony, performed together in modern times but separated in......

...from a great many places, the once-standard approach was to compare major representatives of each group for the purpose of reconstructing the language of the important dictionary Qieyun of ad 601 (Sui dynasty), which mainly represents a Southern language type. One difficulty is that the language in a given area represents a mixture of at least two layers: ...

agricultural town, Qinā muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt. It is situated at the large bend of the Nile north of Luxor (al-Uqṣur) and lies along the east bank of the river. Known to the ancient Egyptians as Qebtu, the town was of early dynastic fo...

Qifu, or “dragon robes” (longpao) as they were usually called, were designed for regular court wear by men and women of imperial, noble, and official rank. The qifu was a straight, kimono-sleeved robe with a closely fitted neckband that continued across the breast.....

TCM is a by-product of the Eastern spiritual practice of qigong (pronounced “chee gung”), or “energy work,” which serves to strengthen the mind-body-spirit connection and to help the body operate as one harmonious system. Although the underpinnings of TCM are sometimes considered to be a system of philosophy, TCM practitioners understand that this comprehensive.....

the only Neolithic culture to be uncovered in China that shows northern Eurasian influence. Although most archaeologists date the Qijia in the Late Neolithic Period, it survived into historical times, and remains from as late as the 1st century bce have been found....

city, northwestern Alaska, U.S. Lying 550 miles (885 km) northwest of Anchorage, it is situated at the northwestern end of Baldwin Peninsula, on Kotzebue Sound. The area, which was a trading centre for a number of widely scattered Arctic villages, has long been inhabited by Inupiat Eskimos. The sound was named for the Russian explorer ...

rugged mountain range on the border of Qinghai and Gansu provinces, west-central China. Glaciers cover an area of about 760 square miles (1,970 square km) and contain some 23 cubic miles (95 cubic km) of ice. This vast ice reservoir is the most important water source for agricultural, industrial, and public use in the Hexi (Gansu) corridor t...

rugged mountain range on the border of Qinghai and Gansu provinces, west-central China. Glaciers cover an area of about 760 square miles (1,970 square km) and contain some 23 cubic miles (95 cubic km) of ice. This vast ice reservoir is the most important water source for agricultural, industrial, and public use in the Hexi (Gansu) corridor t...

After a six-year interregnum Sulaymān’s second son Qïlïch Arslān, released from captivity after the death of Malik-Shāh, finally was able to repossess İznik in 1092 and then gradually to regain control of his father’s dominions. Four years later western European crusaders, responding to the call of Pope Urban II to liberate the Holy Land, ent...

...(Yaghibasan) in Sivas and ʿAyn ad-Dawlah in Malatya-Elbistan—and his son Dhū an-Nūn in Kayseri. After Yağibasan’s death (1164), the Seljuq sultan Qïlïj Arslan II intervened repeatedly in the affairs of the Sivas and Kayseri branches and finally invaded Dānishmend territory; but he was stopped by Dhū an-Nūn’s......

...Kızıl River with the support of local Byzantine lords and the Turkmen borderland chieftains. Backed by Mongol generals and Iranian bureaucrats, his younger brothers Rukn al-Dīn Qïlïch Arslān IV (1248–65) and ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Kay-Qubādh II (1249–57) were installed east of the Kızıl. From this poi...

...(Yaghibasan) in Sivas and ʿAyn ad-Dawlah in Malatya-Elbistan—and his son Dhū an-Nūn in Kayseri. After Yağibasan’s death (1164), the Seljuq sultan Qïlïj Arslan II intervened repeatedly in the affairs of the Sivas and Kayseri branches and finally invaded Dānishmend territory; but he was stopped by Dhū an-Nūn’s......

in Chinese mythology, the unicorn whose rare appearance often coincides with the imminent birth or death of a sage or illustrious ruler. (The name is a combination of the two characters qi “male,” and lin, “female.”) A qilin has a single horn on its forehead, a yellow belly, a multicoloured back, the hooves of a horse, the body of a deer, and the ta...

European scholar of the Hebrew language whose writings on Hebrew lexicography and grammar became standard works in the Middle Ages and whose reputation eclipsed that of both his father, Joseph Kimhi, and his brother, Moses, a grammarian....

...Ch’un-ch’iu, or Spring and Autumn, period (770–476 bc) of Chinese history. Villages or townships on China’s western frontier that had been newly conquered by such expanding Chinese states as Ch’in and Ch’u were placed directly under the authority of the head of the kingdom, in contrast to more settled areas in which the local aristocratic ...